Paula M Esquivias

The complexity of technical subjects related to the construction field, in Architecture Studies, is elevated in the first years of study due to the lack of fundamental knowledge of terms and properties in construction systems. Students enter their first year without previous fundamental training, in most cases, without having visited a construction site, generating pedagogical challenges. Given the complexity of the subject, traditional teaching causes mechanisation and memorisation, erroneous on many occasions, replacing reasoning and understanding of the usefulness of each system and constructive solution. Taking advantage of the entertaining and dynamic potential of Social Networks in students, this work analyses the design, development, and experimentation of a flipped classroom teaching model that combines explanations of main concepts and construction systems through recorded and explained videos by the students themselves, in search of an active, playful and motivating learni...

espanolAunque la cara mas visible de la Directiva 2010/31/UE ha sido un recrudecimiento en las exigencias de aislamiento termico de los edificios, plasmado en la modificacion del Documento Basico HE, es a las estrategias que mejoren el comportamiento termico de los edificios en verano a las que la directiva apremia para evitar el encarecimiento de la electricidad y la perturbacion del balance energetico de los estados miembros. Sin lugar a dudas, los paises con los climas mas calidos tenemos una gran tradicion constructiva a la hora de evitar la excesiva radiacion solar termica en nuestros edificios, siendo un buen ejemplo de ello la estructura urbana de los centros historicos, la incorporacion de los patios y el empleo de elementos de proteccion solar. La internacionalizacion e importacion de la arquitectura del norte de Europa, donde sus condiciones climaticas requieren grandes superficies acristaladas por motivos termicos y luminicos, promovio el empleo y desarrollo de elementos de proteccion movil instalados en el interior del edificio. Sin embargo, con estos elementos, no se evita la entrada de la radiacion solar en los espacios, fomentando el efecto invernadero, y a menudo se hace mal uso de ellos, siendo habitual tener estos dispositivos cerrados y la iluminacion electrica encendida, elevando, por tanto el consumo energetico de los edificios, por climatizacion y por iluminacion. Los elementos de proteccion solar exterior, bien disenados, obstruyen la radiacion solar en el periodo de tiempo que se requiera, mitigando, de este modo, el sobrecalentamiento de estos espacios asi como la probabilidad de deslumbramiento por la presencia de luz directa que provoque un excesivo contraste. Los elementos mas habituales para ello son los voladizos, las lamas, fijas o moviles, y los elementos textiles como los toldos. Por otro lado, la evolucion de la arquitectura nos proporciona diversos ejemplos de edificios emblematicos envueltos en una segunda piel, generalmente creada por motivos esteticos, pero ?no es esta piel sino un gran elemento de proteccion solar unitario y homogeneo del edificio? ?Como afecta su diseno, a primera instancia, de geometria arbitraria, a las condiciones termicas y luminicas de los espacios a los que sirve? EnglishAlthough the most visible aspect of Directive 2010/31/UE has been an upsurge in requirements for thermal insulation in buildings, reflected in the modification of the Basic Document HE, is to strategies which enhance the thermal performance of buildings in summer to which this directive promote to avoid an increasing of the costs of electricity as well as the disruption of energy balance of the member states. Without doubt, countries with warmer climates have a large constructive tradition in avoiding excessive solar thermal radiation into our buildings, being good examples of this the urban structure of the historic city centres, the residential courtyards and the development of solar protection devices. The internationalization and importation of architecture from the northern Europe, where local climatic conditions require large glazed surfaces due to thermal and lighting arguments, encouraged use and development of operable solar protection devices put in the inner side of the building. However, solar thermal radiation is not avoided to enter, having overheating as a result. Also, usually these devices are not well used and a common scenario is having the blinds closed and the electric light on, increasing, of course, the energy consumption in building, both for thermal and lighting conditioning. The external solar protection devices, well-designed, block solar radiation during the time of the year required, mitigating, thus, overheating of these spaces, and the probability of glare due to the presence of direct sunlight producing excessive contrast. The most common types of solar protection are overhangs, louvers, fixed or mobile, and textile items like awnings. Furthermore, the actual evolution of Architecture provides several examples of iconic buildings covered by a second skin, usually designed by aesthetic reasons, but, is not this skin but rather a large, unitary and homogeneous solar protection device for the whole building? How does the design, at first instance of arbitrary geometry, affect the thermal and luminous interior building environment?

espanolLas cuestiones relativas al soleamiento e iluminacion natural y su afeccion al diseno de los edificios ha sido objeto de pocas investigaciones y contadas aplicaciones practicas entre otras cosas, por la ausencia de requerimientos especificos minimos a nivel nacional o local expresados mediante los correspondientes documentos normativos. Si pasamos a la escala urbana, la sensibilizacion y el numero de trabajos que abordan esta tematica es casi inexistente. En los principios del urbanismo bioclimatico, algunos autores como Jose Farina Tojo o Jose Manuel Naredo, establecen los criterios de planificacion de los cuales pueden extraerse aspectos basicos que afectan directamente al diseno urbano. En primer lugar, es imprescindible realizar un trazado viario estructurante que responda a criterios de soleamiento buscando orientaciones optimas para el maximo aprovechamiento de la iluminacion natural tanto para la propia calle como para los edificios que se anexan a ella. Ademas, este viario, tiene que incorporar una vegetacion adecuada a las necesidades de humedad y evaporacion ambiental (tratando de minimizar las cargas termicas), consiguiendo, en conjunto, una morfologia urbana con fachadas bien orientadas y una adecuada proporcion de patios interiores. La investigacion plantea, desde el punto de vista del urbanismo bioclimatico, analizar la influencia de los parametros de diseno urbano mas importantes que influyen sobre las condiciones de soleamiento para lograr su optimizacion, consiguiendo el maximo aprovechamiento de iluminacion natural tanto en el trazado urbano como en el interior de la edificacion. Para ello se utiliza como caso de estudio, un trazado urbano caracteristico de una ciudad con clima calido y latitud entre 30o y 40o. El estudio analiza como la componente reflejada exterior que recibe un espacio en el interior de la edificacion varia en funcion de la alteracion de los parametros urbanos tales como la altura de la edificacion, la anchura de los viales o la orientacion, asi como la presencia de vegetacion o materialidad del pavimento o de las fachadas. De esta forma, la investigacion concluye con la valoracion del grado de influencia que cada parametro estudiado tiene para mejorar las condiciones de soleamiento del trazado urbano asi como las condiciones de iluminacion natural en el interior de la edificacion que lo conforma. EnglishIssues of sunlight and natural lighting condition and design of the buildings has had little research and few practical applications among other things, the absence of specific binding legislation in the CTE range. If we turn to the urban scale awareness and the number of papers addressing this subject is almost inexistent. Among the principles of bioclimatic urban, some authors like Jose Farina Tojo or Jose Manuel Naredo determine planning criteria which can be drawn basics that directly affect the urban design. First, it is essential structural roads that respond to sunlight requirements for getting optimal orientations for the maximum utilization of natural light both for the street and for buildings annexed. Further, this road has to incorporate an appropriate vegetation to the requirements of humidity and environmental evaporation (trying to minimize thermal loads), getting all together, a urban morphology with well oriented facades and an appropriate proportion of courtyards. The research raises, from the point of view of bioclimatic urban, to analyze the influence of the most important design parameters which affect sunlight conditions, to achieve their optimization and the maximum use of natural lighting. As a case study, we analyze the urban design of a typical street in a city with warm climate and latitude between 30° and 40°. The study analyzes how urban parameters influencing external reflected component received within a space. We studied urban parameters such as building height, the width of the street, the presence of vegetation or pavement or facade materials. The research concludes with an assessment of the influence degree of each studied parameter for improving the conditions of sunlight urban design and natural lighting conditions inside the building.

Heat recovery systems installed in Air Handling Units (AHUs) are energy efficient solutions during disparate outdoor-to-indoor temperatures. However, they may be detrimental in terms of a primary energy balance when these temperatures get closer, due to the decrease in the thermal energy recovered compared to the global energy consumption required for their operation. AHUs in surgical areas have certain particularities such as their continuous operation throughout the year, the large airflows supplied and the strict exigencies on the supply air quality, avoiding any cross contamination. This work presents the measurements and analysis performed on a coil heat recovery (run-around) loop system installed in the AHU that serves a mixed-air ventilation operating room in a Hospital Complex. A primary energy balance is studied, including the thermal and electric energy savings achieved, considering the electric energy consumption by the recirculation pump and the additional power requirem...

Abstract Usually the effect of global solar radiation on buildings is evaluated by focusing on the visible part of its spectrum, namely daylight, or on the thermal equivalent of sunlight, solar heat gains through external windows. At present, due to the difficulty of integrating and comparing thermal and daylighting results, approaches considering the integrated effect of global solar radiation are scarce. As a consequence, both approaches separately provide strategies for sustainable buildings – strategies that can, in fact, be contradictory. In order to evaluate daylighting potential and its correlated solar heat gains, a common framework of calculation is established and a set of metrics are defined. These metrics are based on the Daylight Sufficiency criterion, the recommended illuminance ranges for visual tasks and the trigger irradiance value defined in the Blindswitch-A model. The results of applying this method to a simple model show the correlation between the luminous and the thermal performances that are simultaneously achieved on the workplane. This method, therefore, allows both aspects of solar radiation entering through windows to be visualised on one graph, thus enabling an integral assessment, so necessary if strategies that consider both aspects at the same time need to be proposed.

This paper analyses the influence of different perforated solar screens (PSS) in annual daylight conditions expressed using climate-based daylight metrics. The PSS design require parametric studies that are often complex and time consuming due to a large number of simulations. Hence, a new methodology is proposed to optimize PSS design by applying Design of Experiments using Orthogonal Arrays (DOA). A case study from the DOA perspective has been conducted, which involves an office space in Seville, Spain. The goal is to assess the effect of the following PSS design variables in daylighting performance: perforation percentage, matrix, shape and orientation. DOA results reveal that optimized PSS can increase daylit area by 33% and reduce over lit area by 35%, compared with reference models with no PSS. DOA method reduces the number of simulations from the 256 required to 16, so it could save time during the initial stages of building design.

In 2005, the International Energy Agency published that electricity consumption for lighting was about 19% of the total global electricity consumption, being about 48% of the total electricity consumption for lighting of the sector service. Around two thirds of the lighting systems nowadays are based on technologies developed before 1970, and they have lower performance that the current technology. A complete change of the lighting system and the implementation of control and regulation systems can provide relevant energy savings. This work presents a comparison about the energy efficiency of different control lighting systems applied to office spaces located in Spain. The work is based on DAYSIM and DIALUX calculations to perform daylighting, lighting systems and energy consumption derived from the use of lighting control systems. Different types of lighting systems and lighting controls are compared using fluorescent lamps to determinate what is the potential energy saving maintai...

espanolAunque la cara mas visible de la Directiva 2010/31/UE ha sido un recrudecimiento en las exigencias de aislamiento termico de los edificios, plasmado en la modificacion del Documento Basico HE, es a las estrategias que mejoren el comportamiento termico de los edificios en verano a las que la directiva apremia para evitar el encarecimiento de la electricidad y la perturbacion del balance energetico de los estados miembros. Sin lugar a dudas, los paises con los climas mas calidos tenemos una gran tradicion constructiva a la hora de evitar la excesiva radiacion solar termica en nuestros edificios, siendo un buen ejemplo de ello la estructura urbana de los centros historicos, la incorporacion de los patios y el empleo de elementos de proteccion solar. La internacionalizacion e importacion de la arquitectura del norte de Europa, donde sus condiciones climaticas requieren grandes superficies acristaladas por motivos termicos y luminicos, promovio el empleo y desarrollo de elementos ...

Tras la crisis energética de 1973 se ha incrementado exponencialmente el control de las condiciones higrotérmicas de la edificación, desarrollándose nuevas tecnologías para obtener una mayor eficiencia energética en los edificios, incluyendo la iluminación artificial. Así como un adecuado acondicionamiento térmico permite reducir el consumo energético, disminuyendo la demanda térmica, una adecuada iluminación natural permite reducir el consumo de la iluminación eléctrica y evitar el sobrecalentamiento de los espacios, aumentando la eficiencia energética mediante el aprovechamiento de una fuente natural, limpia y gratuita. Pero, mientras existe una larga trayectoria en la predicción de las condiciones de higrotérmicas, el análisis de la iluminación natural se basa, desde hace más de 50 años, en el cálculo del Factor de Iluminación Natural. Este factor, pese a su gran expansión internacional y reconocimiento, por ejemplo en los sistemas LEED o BREEAM, no considera la acción directa de...

Issues of sunlight and daylighting condition for design of the buildings has had little research and few practical applications among other things, because of the absence of national or local minimum requirements. If we focus on the urban scale, awareness and the number of papers addressing this subject is almost inexistent. Among the principles of bioclimatic urban, some authors like José Fariña Tojo or José Manuel Naredo determine planning criteria which can be drawn basics that directly affect the urban design. First, it is essential structural roads that respond to sunlight requirements for getting optimal orientations for the maximum utilization of natural light both for the street and for buildings annexed. Besides, this road has to incorporate an appropriate vegetation to the requirements of humidity and environmental evaporation (trying to minimize thermal loads), getting all together, a urban morphology with well oriented facades and an appropriate proportion of courtyards....

espanolLas cuestiones relativas al soleamiento e iluminacion natural y su afeccion al diseno de los edificios ha sido objeto de pocas investigaciones y contadas aplicaciones practicas entre otras cosas, por la ausencia de requerimientos especificos minimos a nivel nacional o local expresados mediante los correspondientes documentos normativos. Si pasamos a la escala urbana, la sensibilizacion y el numero de trabajos que abordan esta tematica es casi inexistente. En los principios del urbanismo bioclimatico, algunos autores como Jose Farina Tojo o Jose Manuel Naredo, establecen los criterios de planificacion de los cuales pueden extraerse aspectos basicos que afectan directamente al diseno urbano. En primer lugar, es imprescindible realizar un trazado viario estructurante que responda a criterios de soleamiento buscando orientaciones optimas para el maximo aprovechamiento de la iluminacion natural tanto para la propia calle como para los edificios que se anexan a ella. Ademas, este v...

After the energy crisis of 1973, the control of the thermal conditions in buildings has exponentially increased and new technologies have been developed forward greater energy efficiency in buildings, including artificial lighting between them. As a proper thermal conditioning reduces energy consumption by reducing energy demand, an adequate daylighting will reduce the lighting energy consumption, increasing thereby the energy efficiency by taking advantage of a natural and free CO2 emissions source. However, while there is a long history to predict the temperature and humidity conditions, the prediction of daylighting conditions is based, for more than 50 years ago, in the calculation of Daylight Factor. This factor, despite its great international expansion and recognition, for example in LEED or BREEAM accreditation systems, is not considering the light from the Sun, so the only possible real sky conditions where there is no presence of the Sun is under a completely overcast sky,...

In recent years, the building sector has been turning towards intervening in the existing city building stock. In fact, it is generally accepted that the refurbishment of buildings and the urban regeneration based on sustainability must form the axis of reformulation of the building sector. Nowadays, achieving sustainable urban development inevitably involves improving existing buildings, thereby preventing the need for city growth, and for the emptying of established neighbourhoods. Furthermore, considering the whole life cycle, it is well known the great amount of greenhouse emissions derived from the construction sector, so in order to reach a decarbonized society it is important to provide eco-efficient construction materials and solutions, adding the principles of circular economy and resource efficiency. The articles of this special issue show different aspects to be considered in order to reach a decarbonized and circular building stock.

The need to reduce energy consumption in buildings is imperative, but we must maintain individual thermal comfort of the occupants to ensure their well-being and productivity. Personal conditioning systems (PCS) have been suggested as a strategy to achieve both energy efficiency and thermal comfort, as they are considered to be low-energy consumers, allow increasing set-point temperatures, and give occupants the chance to control their own personal environment. While most warm-environment PCS are based on air-movement devices, the potential of using desk direct evaporative coolers (dDEC) has been scarcely explored. This work presents the results of the characterization of a dDEC and its potential for improving the indoor temperature and thermal comfort in a free-running office space. The study proposes adapted corrective power (CPa) and cooling fan efficiency for evaporative systems (CFEe) indexes. Results show that the dDEC achieves thermal comfort with a local effect, and it is re...

In recent years, the building sector has been turning towards intervening in the existing city building stock. In fact, it is generally accepted that the refurbishment of buildings based on sustainability must form the axis of reformulation of the building sector. Although energy refurbishment is commonly accepted and recommended towards decarbonization of the building stock, an integral assessment towards implementing the principles of the circular economy must incorporate the environmental impact of the materials in order to get an eco-efficient refurbishment. The article presents the environmental analysis of a social housing located in Cadiz (Spain) and the improvements achieved by its refurbishment. This intervention is improved by incorporating eco-efficient materials based on the environmental and life cycle analysis (LCA). Those analyses are performed using EnergyPlus, Radiance, LCA standards, and Environmental Product Declaration of the products. The results shown that alth...

The high energy consumption of cooling systems justifies the need for strategies to increase the efficiency of the facilities, in order to reduce the related CO2 emissions. This study aims to improve the performance and reduce the energy consumption of an 8.6 MW air cooled chiller. This installed capacity is biased due to the screw compressors, of 2.98 Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) at full load (characteristics provided by the manufacturer). The chiller unit has been modified by placing evaporating cooling pads before the condensing coils. The chiller has been monitored for three months, recording over 544,322 measurements (5 min-step data), with and without the evaporative cooling pads, to assess the performance. Data comparison has been done by selecting two days (with and without evaporative panels) with the same health care load and temperatures. Implementing the proposed strategy yields an improvement in the European Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ESEER) from 3.69 to 4.83, w...

In order to compare the domestic hot water heating (DHW) and the power supply performances of a south-facing unglazed flat-plate PVT installed on a roof, with an 8
gradient belonging to a solar house located in Madrid (40.24N, 3.41O) with no surrounding obstacles, a finite element heat flux simulation was performed and contrasted with a theoretical mathematical model. In this manner, a correlation between the energy absorbed by water within the pipes in the PVT panel and its inlet temperature, dependant on the tank temperature, is approximated. In both cases, and for certain operating conditions, results are obtained by simulation and by solving the analytical models. The difference between the two methods is used to estimate the degree of freedom introduced. Once the analytical model has been validated by simulation, it is solved for different inlet water temperatures, giving an estimated correlation between the energy absorbed by the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) and the solar contribution to DHW. The results show how using this kind of solar panel not only improves the overall performance of a PVT panel with regard to a PV cell performance alone, but it also enables photovoltaic and solar thermal energy to be incorporated in the same area. This is especially crucial when the roof area is limited or restricted, even when the outlet water temperature for DHW is not excessively high.

The main aim of this article is to determine suitable proportions for lightscoop skylights, whose main characteristic is a vertical opening oriented in the opposite direction to the solar trajectory, with a view to ensuring maximum illuminance on the area under study within a room. Lightscape 3.2 software was used to carry out the simulations, comparing the results with those obtained using Daysim 3.1. It was finally concluded that for this type of skylight a height/width ratio of approximately 4/3 is the most suitable for ensuring the highest daylight levels in a room in overcast sky conditions.

In order to compare the domestic hot water heating (DHW) and the power supply performances of a south-facing unglazed flat-plate PVT installed on a roof, with an 8
gradient belonging to a solar house located in Madrid (40.24N, 3.41O) with no surrounding obstacles, a finite element heat flux simulation was performed and contrasted with a theoretical mathematical model. In this manner, a correlation between the energy absorbed by water within the pipes in the PVT panel and its inlet temperature, dependant on the tank temperature, is approximated.
In both cases, and for certain operating conditions, results are obtained by simulation and by solving the analytical models. The difference between the two methods is used to estimate the degree of freedom introduced. Once the analytical model has been validated by simulation, it is solved for different inlet water temperatures, giving an estimated correlation between the energy absorbed by the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) and the solar contribution to DHW. The results show how using this kind of solar panel not only improves the overall performance of a PVT panel with regard to a PV cell performance alone, but it also enables photovoltaic and solar thermal energy to be incorporated in the same area. This is especially crucial when the roof area is limited or restricted, even when the outlet water temperature for DHW is not excessively high.